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Defender
Class overview
Builders	John I. Thornycroft & Company at Chiswick
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Acheron-class torpedo boat
Succeeded by	HMVS Childers
Built	1883
Building	4
Scrapped	4
General characteristics
Displacement	12 tons
Length	62 ft 10 in (19.15 m)
Beam	7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)
Installed power	173 hp (129 kW)
Propulsion	Two-cylinder inverted compound-expansion steam reciprocating engine 130lb/sq in Locomotive boiler,
Speed	17.5 kn (32.4 km/h)
Complement	7
Armament	One McEvoy Spar torpedo Two 18" Whitehead torpedoes (retrofitted to Defender & Taiaroa) One 2-barrelled Nordenfelt gun

The colonial service Defender-class torpedo boats were designed by Thornycroft & Company for the defence of New Zealand, built at Chiswick in 1883 and shipped to New Zealand. They were quickly obsolete and were left to deteriorate in situ. The remains of Defender are preserved at the Lyttelton Torpedo Boat Museum.

Construction

Acquired for the external defence of New Zealand, at a cost of about £3,200 each, all four boats were built and engined by John I. Thornycroft & Company at Church Wharf, Chiswick on the River Thames.

Armament

As built the class was armed with a single McEvoy spar torpedo, which was designed to be rammed into a vessel and explode beneath the waterline. A single 2-barrelled Nordenfelt gun comprised the total gun armament. The last pair had 18-inch Whitehead torpedoes fitted at build, and these were later retrofitted to Defender and Taiaroa.

Transport to New Zealand

On 1 February 1884 the first pair were shipped aboard the sailing ship Lyttelton from London to Port Chalmers, New Zealand. The second pair followed on 3 May 1884.

Operational lives

Torpedo Corps units of the Permanent Militia were formed to operate the boats at the four main ports of Lyttelton (Defender), Port Chalmers (Taiaroa), Devonport (Waitemata) and Wellington (Poneke), each with its boatshed and slipway. The boats quickly became obsolete and by 1900 had largely been left to rot.

Ships

See also

• Early naval vessels of New Zealand

References

1. ^ Winfield (2004) p.316
2. "Torpedo Bay Time-Line at the RNZN Museum website". Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.

Sources

• The New Zealand Maritime Index
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.

External links

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